The Last Link in The Prophetic Chain Sabbath School 12-05-15

The Last Link in the Prophetic Chain
by Pastor Stephen Bohr
Introduction
In the course of Christian history, many candidates have proposed as the fulfillment of the
little horn and beast prophecies of Daniel and Revelation: The Kaiser, Benito Mussolini,
Adolph Hitler, Ayatollah Khomeini, Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger, Saddam Hussein, and
most recently some have even suggested the name of President Barack Obama.
Obviously all of these were just guesses. But we do not need to guess. The Bible tells us
exactly when the antichrist system would arise, where it would arise and what it would be
like!
In this presentation we shall use a disciplined, careful, contextual approach. There will
be no guesswork. I will use the historical flow method that gives us the starting point,
the ending point and everything in between.
I will be speaking about a system, not the individuals who are in the system. I implore
you to carefully weight the evidence and then decide if what you have seen is true!
It is important to realize that in prophecy we are dealing with symbols that cannot be
taken literally. Each symbol represents something greater than the mere symbol. Today
we are going to study the prophecies of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13.
Winds and Sea
Daniel 7:1, 2: Explanation of winds and sea
“In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head
while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. 2 Daniel spoke,
saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the
Great Sea.”
Note: Winds represent wars among nations that that are struggling to ascend to power.
Isaiah 17:12: Waters represent multitudes of nations and peoples
“Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the
rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!”
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The Last Link in the Prophetic Chain by Pastor Stephen Bohr | SecretsUnsealed.org Page 1 of 23
Four Great Beasts
Daniel 7:3: Four Beasts
“And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.”
Daniel 7:17:
“'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.”
NOTE: These beasts represent kings that reign over a succession of four kingdoms. In the
book of Daniel the words ‘kings’ and ‘kingdoms’ are used interchangeably. This can be seen
clearly in Daniel 2 where Nebuchadnezzar is told that he was the head of gold and after him
another kingdom would arise. It is also seen in Daniel 7:23 where the fourth beast is called
a ‘fourth kingdom’ that shall arise in the earth. Even today, each Nation has a mascot.
 The United States: Eagle

 Russia: Bear
 England: Lion
 China: Dragon
The Lion
Daniel 7:4: The LION
“The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off;
and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's
heart was given to it.”
NOTE: The prophetic chain begins with Babylon, the kingdom in which Daniel lived. When
King Nebuchadnezzar built the ancient city of Babylon he placed lion sphinxes at all of the
main entrances to the city. In fact, Jeremiah 51:38; 50:44 refers to Babylon as a lion.
When Babylon ceased to be a conquering power, its wings were plucked and the lion’s
heart removed.
The Bear
Daniel 7:5: The BEAR
"And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had
three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!'”
NOTE: The bear was higher on one side than the other because one of the two kingdoms
was more prominent than the other.
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In Daniel 8 we are told that a ram had two horns, one horn taller than the other and the
tallest one came out last. The two horns are identified as the kingdoms of the Medes and
Persians (Daniel 8:20). History proves that the first two kings of the Medo-Persian
dynasty were Medes but all the rest were Persians. The three ribs represent the three
provinces that the Medes and Persians had to uproot to rise to power: Lydia, Egypt and
Babylon. It bears noting that the book of Daniel itself identifies the second kingdom as
Medo-Persia (Daniel 5)
The Leopard
Daniel 7:6: The LEOPARD
"After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings
of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
NOTE: The third empire is Greece. The wings represent speed of conquest. A leopard is
swift but a leopard with four wings is even swifter! Alexander the Great conquered the
world in only 9 years and died in a drunken stupor when he was only 31 years old. When
Alexander the Great died he left no successor so his kingdom was divided into four
kingdoms: The Antigonids, the Ptolomies, Seleucids, and Attalids.
The parallel prophecy of Daniel 8 describes a he-goat that was flying through the air (as
the leopard had wings) and defeated the ram. The he-goat had a notable horn that is
identified as the first king (Alexander the Great). When the notable horn is broken, four
horns come up in its place. The book of Daniel itself identifies the he-goat as the kingdom
of Greece (Daniel 8:20)
The Dragon Beast
Daniel 7:7: The DRAGON beast
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,
exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and
trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and
it had ten horns.”
Note: The ten horns are not on the head of the dragon beast when it rises to power. We
will see in a moment that the horns rise after the dragon beast has ruled for a period of
time.
Ten Horns and Little Horn
Daniel 7:8: The little horn rises after the ten horns and among them
“I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among
them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this
horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.”
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Three Stages
Three stages:
[1] THE DRAGON

[2] THE TEN HORNS
[3] THE LITTLE HORN
Daniel 7:23, 24: Three stages of the fourth beast so ALL ARE ROMAN
"Thus he said: The fourth beast shall be a [1] fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be
different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in
pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who [2] shall arise from this kingdom and [3]
another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue
three kings.
Characteristics of the Little Horn
I want to share seven characteristics that will help us identify the little horn:
 Rises after the ten horns come up so it must rise after the Roman Empire was
divided in the year 476 AD
 Being that it rises among the ten horns, it must have risen in Western Europe. More
specifically, it rises from the head of the fourth beast so it must be Roman.
 It uproots three of the ten kingdoms into which Europe was divided
Daniel 7:25 gives us four additional characteristics:
Daniel 7:25:
“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the
Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his
hand for a time and times and half a time.
 It speaks blasphemies against the Most High
 It persecutes the saints of the Most High
 It had to audacity to attempt to change God’s holy Law
 It ruled for time, times and the dividing of time
There is only one power in the world that meets every single one of these specifications:
The Roman Catholic Papacy.
Please bear with me on this. Don’t shut off the DVD player at this point no matter how
painful this might be. My intention is not to offend you. I am speaking about a system,
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not the individuals who find themselves in the system. There are millions of loving
Christians in the system that are unaware of what I am going to present.
#1 The papacy did rise to power in 538 AD after the Roman Empire had been divided into
ten kingdoms
#2 The papacy did rise in western Europe and more specifically from the head of the
fourth beast—Rome.
 Its official name is the Roman Catholic Church
 Its geographical location is in the ancient city of Rome
 Its official language is Latin and it uses Roman numerals
 It inherited its organizational system of the Roman Empire
 Its architecture is Roman
 It inherited many of its religious beliefs and practices from the pagan Roman
empire including the observance of the day of the Sun
 The name of its leader, ‘supreme pontiff’ was borrowed directly from the pagan
Roman emperor
 Scores of historians confirm that the Roman empire was divided into ten
kingdoms and that the papacy continued the legacy of the Roman Empire
#3 The papacy was instrumental in uprooting three heretical kingdoms: The Heruli
(493), the Vandals (534), the Ostrogoths (538)
#4 It did speak blasphemies against the Most High. WHAT IS BLASPHEMY? We must
allow the Bible to explain what it means. It is not some infidel atheist who raises his
hand to heaven and openly defies God. The Bible defines blasphemy in two ways:
Mark 2:7: One who claims to have the power to forgive sins
"Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
In every Roman Catholic church there is a confessional where sinners come to confess
their sins to the priest and to receive absolution. It is well known that pope Francis I has
declared that in the year of mercy, women who have aborted children can be forgiven by
the priest as long as their repentance is sincere.
John 10:30-33: One who claims to be the representative of God
“I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus
answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those
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works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not
stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
#5 The papacy did persecute the saints of the Most High
What about the persecution of the faithful? During his pontificate, pope John Paul II wrote
a letter where he apologized to all of those who had been killed by misguided individuals in
the church. Pope Francis I recently traveled to Torre Pelici and apologized to the
Waldensians for the persecutions that the papacy launched against them. The story of the
Inquisition is well known. Juan Antonio Llorente who himself was a member of the
inquisition, minutely documented the atrocities that were committed by the papacy in the
Spanish inquisition.
Inquisition in Lima, Peru
A few years ago I had the privilege of visiting the city of Lima, Peru. There was one place I
had always wanted to visit in Lima—the palace of the Inquisition. You see, Latin America
had three places where the Inquisition functioned: Colombia, Peru and Mexico.
At the very entrance of the Palace there was a large mural that portrayed an auto de Fe in
the Plaza de Armas. After our tour guide explained the various elements of the mural, we
stepped into the torture chamber. I was amazed at how our young tour guide described
the methods that were used to torture and slay heretics who disagreed with the
teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
As we entered the torture chamber on the right there was the Strappado:
 The victim’s wrists were bound behind their back with a rope and then the loose
end of the rope was tossed over a beam.
 The victim would then be slowly raised with the rope with his arms behind his
back. When the victim was high above the ground the rope was abruptly released
and then stopped before the victim got to the ground thus dislocating his arms and
shoulders.
 Sometimes weights of up to 25 pounds were bound to the victim’s feet to make the
drop more precipitous and the dislocation more painful
Next there was the whipping post:
 With hands and feet in the stocks the prisoner was beaten a minimum of 50 times
and a maximum of 200 times on the back with a whip
A left-turn and on the left hand side there was the Rack:
 The victim was laid upon a table face up with arms and legs extended. The
victim’s ankles and wrists were then tied with ropes that were attached to pulleys
at the four ends of the table
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 Wheels at either end of the board were turned pulling the legs downward and
the arms upward. As the ropes got tighter and tighter the body was stretched in
opposite directions
 As the victim was commanded to recant, the shoulders, elbows, thighs and ankles
were slowly dislocated as the prisoner writhed in pain
On the right hand side was the Garrote
 It was an instrument that slowly strangled the victim.

 The hands and feet were tied with rope to the arms and legs of the chair and a
noose was put around the neck.
 In back of the chair was a wheel that worked as a tourniquet.
 The wheel was slowly turned and this pulled the rope tighter and tighter around
the hands, feet and neck until the victim was strangled.
Water boarding was next:
 Another left and we are at a bench where the victim was laid down, his nostrils
were pinched shut and water was poured down a funnel into the victim’s throat.
 Sometimes a cloth was forced down the throat while pouring the water causing
the sensation of suffocation by drowning.
Then we went down deep into underground tunnels where dungeons had been hewn
into the rock.
The cubicles were barely larger than the person who was placed in them
For days they were shut in by the cold and in absolute darkness with barely enough room
to wiggle without their families even knowing where they were
As mentioned before, some more fortunate victims were taken to the Plaza de Armas,
wood was placed around their bodies, they were chained to a stake and then they were
burned alive.
#6 The papacy does claim to have changed God Law
“. . . the pope can modify divine law, since his power if not of man, but of God, and he acts in
the place of God upon earth, with the fullest power of binding and losing his sheep.” (Lucius
Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 8 volumes, vol. 2, article ‘Papa’).
Catechisms eliminate the Second Commandment and divide the tenth in two parts
Catechisms present Sunday as the day that we are supposed to go to church in honor of
the resurrection of Jesus
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I have pages and pages of quotations from Roman Catholic bishops, cardinals and popes
that Christ gave the Roman Catholic Church the right to change the day of worship from
Sabbath to Sunday. AVAILABLE FROM SECRETS UNSEALED
#7 Remember that we are dealing with symbols. The three and half times are three
and a half years. The word ‘times’ in Daniel 4 is years.
Revelation 13: Four Beasts
The beast represents the same power as the little horn for three reasons.
[1] It is in the same location in the sequence as the little horn in Daniel 7
[2] It performs the same activities as the little horn
[3] It rules for the same period of time
Revelation 13:1, 2: The same sequence of powers. The beasts are in reverse order
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven
heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2
Now the beast that I saw was like a [1] leopard, his feet were like the feet of a [2] bear, and
his mouth like the mouth of a [3] lion. The [4] dragon gave him his power, his throne, and
great authority.”
Apocalipsis 13:7: Same actions: War with the saints
“It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority
was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”
Revelation 13:5: The same actions and period of time
“And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given
authority to continue for forty-two months.”
End of the Third Stage: Captivity and Sword
Revelation 13:10: The third stage ends when the beast is wounded by the sword and
taken into captivity
“He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
What is meant by the captivity of the beast?
It is usually explained as pope Pius VI being taken captive to France in 1798 where he
died in exile. But the meaning is much broader. Remember that the beast does not
represent any pope in particular but rather the system that ruled for 1260 years, from
538-1798 AD. The entire system was taken captive and thrown into prison in 1798. We
will shortly have more to say about this.
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What is represented by the sword that gave the deadly wound to the beast and what is the
meaning of the deadly wound? Let’s speak first of all about the sword. The Bible describes
two swords. The first is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:17: God has given the church a sword, the word of God. This is not the
sword that gave the beast its deadly wound.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Note: This cannot be the sword that wounded the beast because the papacy did not use the
Bible to slay the saints. The very sword that the papacy used to persecute the saints was
used to give it the deadly wound. We must remember that symbols do not always mean the
same thing—the context must be taken into account.
Romans 13:1-4: The sword represents the authority of the civil power to punish violations
of civil law:
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the
authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves
for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the
authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same for he is God's minister to
you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is
God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
Note: The deadly wound does not mean that the Roman Catholic church closed its doors
in 1798 and ceased to function as a church. The fact is that after pope Pius VI was
deposed the Roman Catholic Church, as a church, continued to function. The faithful
continued baptizing their infants, attending mass and confessing their sins to the priest.
What was taken from the papacy was the power to use the civil sword to persecute as it
had done in the past.
While the papacy is permitted to use the sword of the civil power to impose its doctrines
and practices it is free and alive. But when it loses the ability to use the civil sword, it is
wounded and bound.
The best parallel to this is found in the book of Revelation itself. Before the second coming
of Jesus, Satan is alive and free, using the civil powers of the world to persecute the
faithful. But when Jesus comes, all the kings of the earth are no longer alive to support
Satan so Satan is wounded and bound. After the millennium the kings resurrect and
Satan is released from his prison and is alive and free to attempt to take the holy city.
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning described very well what happened when the barbarians
tore apart the Roman Empire:
“Now the abandonment of Rome was the liberation of the pontiffs. Whatsoever claims to
obedience the emperors may have made, and whatsoever compliance the Pontiff may have
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yielded, the whole previous relation, anomalous, and annulled again and again by the vices
and outrages of the emperors, was finally dissolved by a higher power. The providence of God
permitted a succession of irruptions, Gothic, Lombard, and Hungarian, to desolate Italy, and
to efface from it every remnant of the empire. The pontiffs found themselves alone, the
sole fountains of order, peace, law, and safety. And from the hour of this providential
liberation, when, by a divine intervention, the chains fell off from the hands of the successor
of St. Peter, as once before from his own, no sovereign has ever reigned in Rome except the
Vicar of Jesus Christ.” Henry Edward Manning, The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus
Christ, Preface, pp. xxviii, xxix. London: Burns and Lambert, 1862
“It [the papacy] waited until such a time as God should break its bonds asunder, and should
liberate it from subjection to civil powers, and enthrone it in the possession of a temporal
sovereignty of its own.” Henry Edward Manning, The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus
Christ (London: Burns & Lambert, second edition, 1862), pp. 11-13
The Fourth Stage: The Wound is Healed
Revelation 13:3: After ruling for 1260 years the papacy received a deadly wound and
was led into captivity when the French government took away the sword of civil power.
But prophecy affirms that the wound will heal and the papacy will be freed from her
captivity to exercise global power. The entire world will wonder after the beast.
“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was
healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”
The Beast from the Earth Heals the Wound
Revelation 13:11: Introductory verse. Rises when the first beast is wounded and rises
further west in a different place.
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and
spoke like a dragon.”
 It arises when the first beast receives its deadly wound

 It arises in a different place the first four beasts
 It has to be a political superpower because it will lead the whole world to worship
the first beast
 It has to be an economic superpower because it will be able to forbid buying and
selling
 It will be a global military power because it will enforce a global death decree
against those who do not worship the first beast.
 It is a contemporary of the first beast but is younger. It does not fight the previous
beast to gain power but rather will end up helping the first beast recover its power
Revelation 13:12: All the authority of the first beast on its behalf and makes all worship
the first beast. This beast
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“And he [1] exercises all the authority of the first beast [2] in his presence, and causes the
earth and those who dwell in it to [3] worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was
healed.”
Revelation 13:14: Makes an image of and to the first beast. It will be a reflection of the
first beast, a union of church and state
“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in
the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth [4] to make an image to the
beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”
Revelation 13:16: It will enforce the mark of the beast.
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, [5] to receive a mark on
their right hand or on their foreheads.”
The Two Horns like a Lamb
The closest parallel to the beast that has two horns like a lamb is found in Daniel 8:3
Daniel 8:3: A ram with two horns
“Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two
horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one
came up last.”
Daniel 8:20: The two kingdoms in one nation are the Medes and Persians
“The ram which you saw, having the two horns ó they are the kings of Media and Persia.”
Matthew 22:19-21: Which two kingdoms did Jesus, the Lamb, recognize?
“Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, "Whose
image and inscription is this?" 21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Matthew 4:8-10: Jesus rejected the kingdoms of this world
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world [same expression as in John 18:36] and their glory. 9 And he said
to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus
said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God
and Him only you shall serve.'"
John 18:36: Jesus recognized two separate kingdoms in one nation. Pilate recognized
the same when he told the Jews to judge Jesus according to their law.
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“Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My
servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is
not from here."
Jesus called His kingdom ‘the kingdom of heaven’ or the ‘kingdom of the church’. He never
appealed to the Roman state to aid Him in the preaching of His message.
He rebuked James and John when they wished to destroy the Samaritan villages that
refused to allow Jesus to pass through them.
He refused to be made king after He fed the 5,000.
He severely rebuked Peter for using his sword to defend Jesus when the temple guard
came to arrest Him. Jesus did not come to take over the reins of the state, He came to
implant the principles of His kingdom in the human heart:
Luke 17:20-21: Jesus did not come to take over the reins of civil power
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He
answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation [with an
external display of power]; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there! For indeed, the
kingdom of God is within you."
So, clearly, Jesus the Lamb recognized the existence of two kingdoms, separate from one
another. So the two lamblike horns on the head of the land beast represent two kingdoms
in one nation. You might say: The United States is certainly one nation but does it have
two kingdoms?
Constitutional Fathers and the Bible
Even though the Founding Fathers were not churchgoers, they were well acquainted with
the Bible and with history.
#1 They had great admiration for Christ and knew all about His trial, sentencing and
execution by a union of the apostate Jewish Church with the Roman State.
#2 They were also well aware of the persecution that befell the apostolic church at the
hands of the Roman State by the instigation of the apostate Jewish Church.
#3 They knew about how the papacy persecuted those who disagreed with its
doctrines and practices
#4 They knew all about the Colonial period where people who were not member of
the established religion were deprived of their civil and religious liberty.
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The Founding Documents
The documents that founded the United States are remarkable indeed. Shortly before 1798,
in 1776 the Declaration of Independence affirmed that all men are created equal and that
they have certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
In 1787 the Constitution of the United States was ratified that established a government of
the people, by the people and for the people.
And in 1791 the Bill of Rights (the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution) was ratified
which guarantees religious and civil liberties.
All of these documents were ratified immediately before the papacy received its deadly
wound in 1798. Just as prophecy predicted, God, in His providence, was preparing the next
world super power to appear on the stage even as the previous power was about to be
mortally wounded.
An examination of the writings of the constitutional fathers reveals that they firmly
believed in the existence of two kingdoms in the United States that were to forever
remain separate. According to their view the church was to use the spiritual sword of the
Spirit to persuade through the preaching of the Word while the state was to use the
material sword to preserve the civil order.
The new nation was established upon two great principles:
 Republicanism (representative civil government with the civil sword)

 Protestantism (representative religious government with the religious sword)
During the middle Ages all civil matters were decided and imposed by the king and all
religious matters were decided and enforced by the pope. The power flowed from top to
bottom. When the king spoke in civil matters and the pope spoke in religious matters, the
people were simply expected to obey without question.
The constitutional fathers established a revolutionary system of government that flowed

from the bottom up—a government of the people, by the people and for the people in
which citizens would enjoy full civil and religious liberty.
The foundational idea behind this concept was that of two kingdoms in one nation, each
with its own sword and separate from one another. This was one of the most revolutionary
experiments in the history of the world. Ellen White, who was born only 29 years after the
deadly wound wrote:
“The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular
power on the part of the church, with its inevitable result--intolerance and persecution.” GC
442
In this way the founding fathers rejected the Roman Catholic view that it is legitimate for
the church to use the power of the state to enforce its beliefs and practices. Instead the
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Founding Fathers established a government that returned to the view of church and
state that had characterized Jesus and the earliest church, one that separated church and
state and guaranteed the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience.
Let’s take a look at several statements from the writings of the Founders of the Nation:
George Washington
George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention that ratified the
Constitution stated:
“If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the
convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of
any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature on it; and if I
could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render
the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more
zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual
tyranny and every species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have
often expressed my sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being
accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping
the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.” George Washington to the Baptist
Delegation, August 8, 1789.
Benjamin Franklin
“When religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and when it does not support
itself, and God does not take care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for the
help of the civil powers, ‘tis a sign, I apprehend, of it being a bad one.” (Quoted in Clifford
Goldstein, Day of the Dragon, p. 77)
Thomas Jefferson
I have had the privilege of visiting the Jefferson Monument in Washington D. C. several
times. Etched on the Monument are the following words:
“Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal
punishment or burdens. . . are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion. .
. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall
otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to
profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one
code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.”
Jefferson once wrote:
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It
does me no injury for my neighbor to say that there are twenty gods, or no gods. It neither
picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” (Thomas Jefferson, Writings, p. 285)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jefferson wrote in 1782:
“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
(Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations,
Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1983, p. 363)
Notice how Jefferson warned against the clergy using the power of the state to enforce
religion:
“The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and ingrafted into the machine of
government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of
man.’ (Letter to J. Moor, 1800).
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil

government.” (Letter to von Humboldt, 1813)
“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in
alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.” (Letter to H.
Spafford, 1814)
Danbury Baptism Association
In a letter addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802, Thomas Jefferson

expressed his understanding of the first two clauses of the first amendment by using the
metaphor of the wall which he most likely borrowed from Roger Williams:
“Believing with you [the Danbury Baptists] that religion is a matter which lies solely
between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship,
that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate
with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their
legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
It will be noticed that the third clause of the first amendment guarantees full civil
rights—freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom to
petition the government for a redress of grievances.
James Madison Statements
James Madison, who is called the ‘Father of the Constitution,’ expressed his views on the
relationship between religion and the government:
“There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its
least interference with it [religion] would be a most flagrant usurpation. I can appeal to my
uniform conduct on this subject that I have warmly supported religious freedom.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Madison affirmed in 1822 that the United States was teaching the world two most
important truths:
“We are teaching the world the great truth that Governments do better without Kings and
Nobles than with them [republicanism]. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson that
Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government
[Protestantism].” [James Madison, Letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822 The Writings
of James Madison, Gaillard Hunt].
Sometimes when I am lecturing on this subject I ask the question: To how many
kingdoms do Christians belong? They actually belong to two.
The fact is that Christians are citizens of two kingdoms in the same country. We are
citizens of the United States by birth and we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom by the
new birth. We have an earthly passport that identifies our earthly country of origin and
we have a heavenly passport, the blood of the Lamb, which identifies us as citizens of
Christ’s heavenly kingdom, the church.
John Adams and the Treaty of Tripoli
On June 10, 1797, the year before the deadly wound was given to the Roman Catholic
papacy, president John Adams signed into law the Treaty of Tripoli that unambiguously
stated:
“The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded upon the Christian
religion.”
Some have been troubled by the wording in this treaty strongly arguing that the United
States was founded upon the Christian religion. However, if the constitutional fathers had
founded the United States upon the Christian religion, this would have been an
establishment of religion which is unconstitutional!! The United States is not a Christian
Nation; it is a nation of Christians.
Notably, President Adams sent this treaty to the Senate in May of 1797 where it was read
aloud to all of the senators who were present and printed copies were also given to each
Senator. The vote to ratify the treaty was unanimous! Notably, the treaty was printed in
full in several newspapers in Philadelphia and New York City and there was not even a
whimper of protest from the general public. None of the Senators paid a heavy price for
signing the treaty.
The First Amendment
Frequently Christian activists will also say that separation of church and state appears
nowhere in the Constitution. This is true if we mean that the actual expression:
“separation of church and state” is not in the Constitution. Although the specific expression
is not found in the Constitution, the concept is clearly and explicitly contained in the
First Amendment to the Constitution:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion [clause #1], or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof [clause #2]; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for
a redress of grievances [clause #3].”
Notice that the intent of the First Amendment is not to forbid the establishment of a
church or a religion over and above another church or another religion. The word
‘religion’ in the First Amendment is not preceded by a definite or an indefinite article.
Clearly, the First Amendment forbids Congress from drawing up laws that have anything to
do with religion, period. In this sense the Constitution clearly contains the concept of the
separation of church and state because the state is forbidden to make laws that
establish religion or prohibit its free exercise. Thus the state can have nothing to do
with religion except to protect everyone’s right to practice it freely according to the
dictates of their own conscience.
Notably, the third clause of the First Amendment guarantees full civil rights. Thus the First
Amendment contains the idea of full civil and religious liberty!!
The Supreme Court
It seems preposterous that the United States could ever write into law a Sunday law and
and an anti-Sabbath law especially in light of the fact that the First Amendment strictly
forbids congress from making any law that establishes religion and forbids its free
exercise. How could this ever happen? The answer is found in our system of government.
Our government is composed of three branches:
 Legislative: Writes the laws

 Executive: Enforces the laws
 Judicial: Interprets the laws
The most powerful branch of government is the judicial branch, particularly the Supreme
Court. This tribunal has nine justices and it is their role to determine if a law is
constitutional. How will a beast with lamblike horns speak like a dragon?
 The composition of the Supreme Court: Six Roman Catholics

 The 2000 election
 The Supreme Court on June 26, 2015 legalized gay marriage on a federal level and
there is no court of appeal
 The fact that there are 6 Roman Catholics on the Court
 How unconstitutional laws will be declared constitutional and vice versa.
 Daniel 3 and 6 as an illustration
Worship, Sign and Authority
The [1] first angel commands true [2] worship to the creator whose [3] sign is the
Sabbath:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Revelation 14:6, 7: Command to worship the Creator whose sign of allegiance is the
Sabbath
“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to those who dwell on the earth ó to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people ó 7 saying
with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come;
and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” [a reference
to creation and the fourth commandment]
On the other hand, the [1] beast commands [2] false worship whose sign is the [3]
change in the Law. Thus at the heart of the final conflict is the issue of authority.
Revelation 14:9-11: Warning against worshiping the beast that we have identified as the
papacy and receiving his mark, a sign of allegiance to him.
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast
and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His
indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels
and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever;
and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name."
Claims to Divine Power
Roman Catholics might say that the papacy does not claim to be God or demand
worship and therefore the third angel’s message does not apply to it.
However, there are several clear indications that the papacy does claim the prerogatives
of God. If the papacy claims to exercise the prerogatives of God it is claiming to be God!
 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4: The papacy sits in the temple of God claiming to be God
 Pope Leo XIII stated in an Encyclical Letter dated June 20, 1894: “We hold upon this
earth the place of God Almighty.” (The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, p. 304)
 Its leader is called ‘holy father’ when Jesus forbade us from calling any man on
earth our Father (Matthew 23:9)
 Popes have since time immemorial allowed individuals to bow before them even to
the point of kissing their ring and feet! In contrast, Peter refused to allow
Cornelius to bow before him (Acts 10:25, 26)
 The papacy claims to have the power to forgive sins
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 The papacy claims that it had authority to change the day of worship from Sabbath
to Sunday
 At Vatican Council I in 1870 the dogma of papal infallibility was proclaimed
 The papacy has claimed to have power to set up kings and remove them
 Popes have claimed that they can judge all but can be judged by no one
 The papacy claims to have the power to create the Creator in the sacrifice of the
Mass:
“Thus the priest may, in a certain manner, be called the creator of his Creator, since
by saying the words of consecration, he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament, by
giving him a sacramental existence, and produces him as a victim to be offered to the
eternal Father. As in creating the world it was sufficient for God to have said, Let it be
made, and it was create—He spoke, and they were made—so it is sufficient for the
priest to say, ‘Hoc est corpus meum,’ and behold the bread is no longer bread, but the
body of Jesus Christ. ‘The power of the priest,’ says St. Bernardine of Sienna, ‘is the
power of the divine person; for the transubstantiation of the bread requires as much
power as the creation of the world.” St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of
the Priest or Selva, pp. 33-34.
So what is the sequence of powers?
Where are we right now in the course of prophetic history? We are in a period of respite
from persecution just before the next to last stage:
 Babylon (605-539)
 Medes and Persians (539-331)
 Greece (331-168)
 Roman Empire (168-476)
 Divided Roman Empire (476-538)
 Papal Rome rules for 1260 years (538-1798)
 Deadly wound by France (1798)
 The rise of the beast with lamblike horns (1798)
 WE ARE HERE: A period of respite from persecution (the last 200+ years)
 The last event in the drama: THE LAND BEAST RETURNS POWER TO THE SEA
BEAST
We are in the Period of the Deadly Wound
Jesuit scholar, Malachi Martin stated in 1986:
“[For] fifteen hundred years and more, Rome had kept as strong a hand as possible in each
local community around the wide world. By and large, and admitting some exceptions, that
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
had been the Roman view until two hundred years of inactivity had been imposed upon the
papacy by the major secular powers of the world.” Quoted in Christianity Today
(November 21, 1986), p. 26.
This is an extraordinary statement. If we move 200 years backwards in time from 1986,
we end up at the time of the French Revolution and the deadly wound when France took
away the power of the sword from the papacy. Thus Martin is admitting that the papacy
has been inactive for the past 200 years because secular governments have not given her
the power of the sword.
The Healing of the Wound
But Ellen G. White, who wrote one hundred years before Martin, predicted that the
restraints now imposed by the secular governments of the world will be removed and the
papacy will recover the civil sword:
“Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed and Rome be
reinstated in her former power, and there would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and
persecution.” The Great Controversy, p. 564
The wound will be healed when the beast with lamblike horns (the United States) helps
the first beast recover its power. We are told that at that time every country on the globe
will follow the example of the United States:
“As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the
conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on
the globe will be led to follow her example.” 6T 18
Right now we are at the very end of the prophetic chain—the moment when the deadly
wound will be healed! And there are clear signs that the United States is cozying up with
the papacy.
A Troubling Scenario
I was in Philadelphia for the pope’s recent visit to the United States. A million souls from
every religious persuasion and every country on the globe made great financial
sacrifices to come and see and hear him.
The relationship between the papacy and the government of the United States is getting
closer and closer. From the [1] Holy Alliance between the United States and the Vatican
to overthrow the Soviet Union, to the pope [2] helping President Obama establish
diplomatic relations with Cuba, to the speaking to a [3] joint session of Congress, to the
pope visiting the [4] White House to discuss policy matters. Should this concern us?
Where are the voices to raise the alarm?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Protestants are no More
Sadly, today most Christians are looking to the Middle East for the fulfillment of Bible
prophecy and therefore the powers that will play a role in the fulfillment of prophecy are
hidden from sight and practically all nations marvel after the papacy.
Great Protestant leaders have lined up to go to the Vatican: Tony Palmer, Joel Osteen,
James Robison, Rick Warren and Kenneth Copland
Fulton Sheen
Think about what has happened in Philadelphia and then read the following two verses
and a remark by Archbishop Fulton Sheen:
John 17:14: The world hates rather than loves those who are faithful.
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world.”
Revelation 13:3
“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was
healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”
In the decade of the 1950’s Protestants in the United States were extremely suspicious of
the Roman Catholic papacy and strongly disliked it.
In 1955 (60 years ago) Fulton Sheen, apologist and radio and television pioneer of
Roman Catholicism, came on the airwaves with the following message:
"If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look
for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would
look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is
in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was
on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get
along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world as Christ was hated by
the world. Taken from Radio Replies, Vol. 1, p IX, Rumble & Carty, Tan Publishing
The papacy is no longer disliked so we should ask: Is the papal system now a counterfeit
church because it is loved? Would he say the same today or would he say that the most
popular and loved church in the world is the true church?
Why do we Exist?
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light
bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is
shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most
solemn import--the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their
attention.” 9T 19
Revelation 12, 13, 14
These three chapters are linked:
Revelation 12: A remnant rises after the 1260 years
 Woman persecuted for 1260 days (12:13-15)

 The earth helps the woman (12:16)
 The remnant (12:17)
 The dragon enraged once again (12:17)
Revelation 13:
 Saints persecuted for 42 months

 A beast rises from the earth with two lamblike horns
 The land beast ends up speaking like a dragon
 Remnant persecuted when the land beast speaks like a dragon
Revelation 14:6-12:
God calls a people to warn the world about the powers of Revelation 12, 13. In this passage
we have mention of the same elements as Revelation 13: The beast, the image, the mark
and the number of his name.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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The Last Link in The Prophetic Chain Sabbath School 12-05-15

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The Last Link in The Prophetic Chain Sabbath School 12-05-15

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The Last Link in the Prophetic Chain

by Pastor Stephen Bohr

Winds and Sea

Daniel 7:1, 2: Explanation of winds and sea

Isaiah 17:12: Waters represent multitudes of nations and peoples

Daniel 7:3: Four Beasts

 The United States: Eagle

Daniel 7:4: The LION

Daniel 7:5: The BEAR

Daniel 7:6: The LEOPARD

The Dragon Beast

Daniel 7:7: The DRAGON beast

Ten Horns and Little Horn

[1] THE DRAGON

Characteristics of the Little Horn

Daniel 7:25 gives us four additional characteristics:

 It speaks blasphemies against the Most High

 It persecutes the saints of the Most High

 It had to audacity to attempt to change God’s holy Law

 It ruled for time, times and the dividing of time

 Its official name is the Roman Catholic Church

 Its geographical location is in the ancient city of Rome

 Its official language is Latin and it uses Roman numerals

 It inherited its organizational system of the Roman Empire

 Its architecture is Roman

John 10:30-33: One who claims to be the representative of God

#5 The papacy did persecute the saints of the Most High

Inquisition in Lima, Peru

Next there was the whipping post:

On the right hand side was the Garrote

 It was an instrument that slowly strangled the victim.

Water boarding was next:

#6 The papacy does claim to have changed God Law

Revelation 13: Four Beasts

Apocalipsis 13:7: Same actions: War with the saints

Revelation 13:5: The same actions and period of time

End of the Third Stage: Captivity and Sword

What is meant by the captivity of the beast?

The Fourth Stage: The Wound is Healed

The Beast from the Earth Heals the Wound

 It arises when the first beast receives its deadly wound

Revelation 13:16: It will enforce the mark of the beast.

The Two Horns like a Lamb

Daniel 8:3: A ram with two horns

Matthew 4:8-10: Jesus rejected the kingdoms of this world

He refused to be made king after He fed the 5,000.

Constitutional Fathers and the Bible

The new nation was established upon two great principles:

 Republicanism (representative civil government with the civil sword)

The constitutional fathers established a revolutionary system of government that flowed

Jefferson once wrote:

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil

Danbury Baptism Association

In a letter addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802, Thomas Jefferson

James Madison Statements

John Adams and the Treaty of Tripoli

The First Amendment

The Supreme Court

 Legislative: Writes the laws

 The composition of the Supreme Court: Six Roman Catholics

Worship, Sign and Authority

Claims to Divine Power

 The papacy claims to have the power to forgive sins